Men's Basketball Media Day Quotes

WFU Media Relations

10/17/2003

Head Coach Skip Prosser
On not having Josh Howard on this year's team:
"That's the beauty of college basketball. There are no seven, eight or nine-year contracts. You go to school for four years, earn your degree and move on with your life. And that will be one of the charms of practice - to find out where Josh's points and rebounds will come from this year. That's why I'm anxious to start - to find that out for myself."

On the freshman class:
"I'm excited about this class. I like their character. As far as how well they'll perform, we'll find that out tomorrow at 11 a.m. This is a good class of people and I think they're joining a good group of upperclassmen."

On the improvement of Eric Williams:
"He now has a year under his belt. His reps will get increased and his skills will improve. I think he'll learn to anticipate more than react, which should hopefully keep him out of foul trouble. If he becomes more anticipatory rather than reactionary, those fouls should take care of themselves."

On the addition of Boston College to the ACC:
"It makes sense, symmetrically speaking. If you're going to go to 11 it makes sense to have 12. I think Boston College is an excellent school and a good fit for the ACC. I think Al Skinner (BC basketball coach) is a great coach. I called him this week and congratulated him and welcomed him to the league."

Freshman Chris Paul
On coming into a new system:
"I'm learning a whole new system, I'm getting a lot of different plays thrown at me. But I meet with the coaches regularly to talk about it. I've also talked to Taron - he's really taken me under his wing."

On playing in front of the hometown crowd:
"My teammates are already teasing me - they've been calling me the mayor of Winston-Salem. But I love being close to home. I'm very family-oriented and I like having my family and friends nearby."

Sophomore Justin Gray
On coming back from the injury last season:
"The injury did a lot of for me. It taught me a lot. I learned to be more patient. While I was sitting there just watching the game I could see everything on the floor and how plays developed."

On last year's disappointing finish (NCAA second-round loss to Auburn):
"We've been using it as motivation ever since that game ended. We've been telling the younger guys that you can't take any game lightly, that you can't get complacent."

On a new look on the perimeter this season:
"I think we'll have a quicker game. Last year we had size on the perimeter. This year we'll be smaller but I think we can go more up-tempo. It will be tough without Josh (Howard) but we knew that the day he graduated - actually the day after the Auburn game. We just need people to step up."